Paulie Malignaggi has his rematch with Juan Diaz. The two will meet in Chicago on Dec. 12 in a junior welterweight rematch of their bout held last August in Houston. Diaz, a Houston native, won that fight on a decision that was controversial because of a one-side scorecard. While many on-lookers agreed the fight was competitive, Texas judge Gale Van Hoy scored the bout 118-110 for Diaz. By comparison, the Post had Malignaggi winning, 115-113. Malignaggi complained loudly enough about a hometown bias for Diaz that HBO; Malignaggi’s promoter, Lou DiBella; and Diaz’s, promoter, Golden Boy Promotions; all agreed on a rematch to be held in New York.

That seemed like a natural sequel. But Diaz balked at fighting in New York. Other venues were explored including Atlantic City. But now the bout will be at the University of Illinois at Chicago where neither fighter has a true fan base.

It’s too bad the fight couldn’t have been made in New York, although word is it would have been difficult to find a venue even if Diaz had agree to a bout in Manhattan.

That same night in Chicago will mark the return of Victor Ortiz against Antonio Diaz. Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KOs) has plenty to make up for after being stopped in the sixth round by Marcos Rene Maidana last June. After the fight, Ortiz hurt his street cred by saying, “I’m going to stop while I’m ahead. That way I can speak well when I’m older,” and adding, “I’m young, but I don’t think I deserved to be beat up like this.”

Now one of promising stars of the Golden Boy stable is viewed as damages goods. Ortiz needs to be very impressive in this fight to be taken seriously again.

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Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez have begun trash-talking each other now that their Dec. 5 bout is set for Atlantic City. During a conference call today, Martinez said he would knock out Williams. “I’m going to win by knockout. I’m sure of it,” Martinez said. “I’m in the best shape of my life and in the best time of my career. I’m a lot faster than Paul and I don’t take as many hits as he does. That will bode well for me during the fight.”

Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) holds a title at light middleweight, but is stepping up to middleweight to replace Kelly Pavlik, who pulled out of his fight against Williams because of a hand injury. “For me going up in weight doesn’t affect me,” Martinez said. “It makes me feel stronger and I know that I still have my speed and it works well with me.”

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It has to be mentioned. What was Harry Joe Yorgey doing be matched against Alfredo Angulo on last Saturday’s Boxing After Dark card on HBO? The bout, which led into the main event featuring Chad Dawson’s 12-round decision over Glen Johnson, was a joke. I understand the need to rehabilitate Angulo, who in May lost to Kermit Cintron, but Yorgey didn’t belong in the ring, much less on national television. This is how HBO’s announce team described him: “uncoordinated” and “inexperienced.” Emanuel Steward said, “It was only a matter of time” before he would be knocked out and he was at 1:30 of the third round by a left-hand, right hook combination that had Yorgey out before he hit the floor. He looked to be seriously hurt, but fortunately left the ring up his own power. As Lawrence Taylor once said: “You gotta do better than this.”

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Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez have begun trash-talking each other now that their Dec. 5 bout is set for Atlantic City. During a conference call on Monday, Martinez said he would knock out Williams. “I’m going to win by knockout. I’m sure of it,” Martinez said. “I’m in the best shape of my life and in the best time of my career. I’m a lot faster than Paul and I don’t take as many hits as he does. That will bode well for me during the fight.”

Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs) holds a title at light middleweight, but is stepping up to middleweight to replace Kelly Pavlik, who pulled out of his fight against Williams because of a hand injury. “For me going up in weight doesn’t affect me,” Martinez said. “It makes me feel stronger and I know that I still have my speed and it works well with me.”

Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) is happy he’ll be fighting in Atlantic City and isn’t concerned with Martinez’s prediction or his southpaw style. ” He’s a big challenge,” Williams said. “He’s a threat and I’ve got to eliminate that threat. He’s slick, fast and all that, but I’ve got to impose my will like I always do when I get in there.”

The fight will be held at the ballroom at Boardwalk Hall with tickets priced from $300 to $50 at the usual outlets.